Antibodies (2005)

(AKA Antikörper)



The IMDb says: "Long wanted serial killer Gabriel Engel gets arrested in a spectacular police strike. Small town cop Michael Martens travels to the big city to interrogate him. He associates a brutal murder case with the killer's method and hopes to close the case by getting a confession from Engel. Instead the clash of the two totally opposite characters shakes Michael's beliefs to the ground, turning him into a dangerous threat to the people around him."

After a big shoot out at the start, a German serial killer jumps out of a window (landing in a big heap of broken glass and legs!) and says to the arresting cops, "I'm innocent". But is he? Well, that's what the rest of the film is about.

This is an extremely well put together serial killer interrogation movie which, along with Evilenko and Hannibal Lector, really wants to satisfy that niche market who enjoy such things. I always think of these kind of films as being more "cop movies" than horror, but I suppose a case can be argued for both.

So, anyway, it's really a lot like a German version of "Silence of the Lambs" (and "Se7en") but with the serial killer really messing up the cop's mind so that he eventually starts to think that his own son is the real serial killer.

André Hennicke does a great job as the serial killer, but he's not the "hero" of the film like Hannibal Lector was in any way. This is all about the cops not the killer for once and there are no dramatic escapes. This serial killer is locked up and stays there.

I won't tell you any more than this as I often give far too many spoilers away. You'll just have to watch it for yourself and find out.

The movie is subtitled but the acting seems to be top notch and the camerawork is exceptional. A lot of work went into this and it shows.

The only problem is that it's a bit too talky with not enough action for me. It's all about relationships and often goes above and beyond what is necessary to be "intellectual". You won't get any quotable lines or nudie psycho dancing with his dinkle tucked between his legs in this one.

You can also see the ending coming from a mile away, but the journey there is not entirely predictable. There's a lot of suspense created along the way, but I was hoping for even more of a twist. However, like all "cop movies", this is pretty formulaic stuff. In many ways it is a lot like the American CSI series so fans of that will love it.

If viewed as a horror film it will be disappointing. As a thriller, it isn't too bad at all. It's worth a watch anyway.